The 1st Year is Always the Hardest
by thisismysweetescape4
Summary: It's been a year since Cedric Diggory has been murdered. How has his girlfriend, Cho Chang been dealing with this? One-shot


**The 1****st**** Year is Always the Hardest **

"Do you, Cho Chang? Take Cedric Diggory, to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, to cherish, as long as you both shall live?"

Cho took a deep breath. What she said now, would change her life. But thankfully, she knew what her answer would be. What it had been since the beginning, and what it _would_ be, for the rest of her life.

"I do."

"And do you, Cedric Diggory, take Cho Chang to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, to cherish, as long as you both shall live?"

Cedric looked at the minister, then at Cho. His bright grey eyes, sparkling with delight, as if he were getting his first broom. When he spoke, the words were loud and victorious, as if he had just won the Quidditch World Cup.

"I do."

"Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Cedric leaned in close to Cho, took her face in his hands, and kissed her. It was a soft kiss, sensual. But there was an edge to it too, a strange energy to it. Like he was riding a strange high. But all of a sudden, Cho heard a loud bang behind her. Cedric pulled his lips from hers and turned to face the bang and drew his wand. All of a sudden, the scariest looking man walked through the door. He had red, snakelike eyes, whiter than a skull, nose as flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils. It was him, the man that had ruined so many people's lives, the man that had been stopped by the strangest person alive: a baby.

It was Voldemort.

Cedric moved his hand protectively behind Cho and she grabbed it. What was he doing here?! My family hadn't done anything to anger Voldemort personally. And on her wedding day! All of a sudden, Cho wasn't worried for herself, but for her family. And most of all, she was worried about the man who had just become her husband. Cedric raised his wand higher now. His hand was shaky, but Cho guessed that was to be expected; one of the most powerful and most evil wizards of all time in front of him. But for her, the scariest thing wasn't what he looked like, but his voice. It wasn't harsh and rough like she had imagined it to be, but it was soft and calm. Surprisingly, it was almost pleasant. Almost.

"Hello young Cedric." He had said. He spoke to him as if they were old friends. As if he hadn't come here to kill anyone, almost as if he were here to celebrate our marriage, just like anyone else in the room. To say the least, Cho was shocked. She looked up to the face of her new husband. And she saw it in his eyes, he was shocked too. But what he did next shocked her even more.

"Hello. Welcome. What brings you to my wedding?" How he kept his voice level, Cho didn't know, but she was glad. Anything that would stall Voldemort killing someone here. Cho tried to see what his plan was, but she couldn't.

"Well, let me just say, congratulations to the two of you. You two look like a very happy couple." Voldemort replied. Cedric and I nodded, what was he doing?

"But I'm sorry to say that you won't be a happy couple for much longer." He continued. He slowly drew his wand so that it was beside him. Cedric too seemed to notice it and straightened his arm.

"And why is that?" he replied. But she knew that he and Cho knew why they wouldn't be happy for a very long time.

Voldemort did not answer; instead, his wand was starting to rise higher now, almost at arm's length. "I should be sorry about this, but I'm not" His wand was starting to rise higher now, almost at arm's length. Cedric turned his head to face her and whispered,

"Cho, I love you." Then all of a sudden, Cho heard a flash of green light, and Cedric became stiff, the sparkle in his grey eyes went out, and she knew that it wasn't coming back. As Cedric fell to the ground, Cho felt herself putting my arm underneath him to support his body, and she felt herself lowering to the ground and putting her face close to his. She half-expected his face to still be warm, and feel his breath against her face. But there was no breath, just silence. There was no warmth, just hardness and cold. And then it hit her, Cedric was dead. He wasn't just asleep, he was dead. Cho felt the tears pour down her face, and then everything went black.

Cho woke up in a cold sweat. That was the 3rd time that she had had that dream in a week. At first, she was so scared, then she felt that familiar ache in her heart whenever she thought of Cedric. A whole summer had passed since he had been murdered, and still not a day went by where she didn't wish with every fiber of her being that he was still alive. But he wasn't, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

Cho looked at her watch, lying on the bedside table from the night before. It read 3:40. She got up and walked over to the mirror beside her bed. She looked at herself in the mirror and was repulsed. Cho looked like a mess. Her hair was sticking up all over the places, her eyes were red and puffy from the crying she had been doing, and the dark circles under them were so huge, they were reaching her cheeks. Cho sighed as she took my brush and tried to fix her hair. After about a minute of that completely failing, she decided to fix it when it was a more regular time of day to be up. As Cho climbed into bed, she remembered a phrase that her mother had told her when she was talking about her and fathers' marriage.

'The 1st Year is Always the Hardest' she had said. If Cho stopped and thought about it, that was true. It was _really _true. Sure, her mother had been talking about marriage, and how the first year after they got married was the toughest for her parent's because they had to get used to living with each other. But, she was thinking about it for a different reason, for a different situation. The 1st Year _after you lose a loved one _is Always the Hardest. That was true. Hell, it hadn't even _been _a year, and already, she felt like she had no reason to live anymore. Cedric had become her life, and she had become his. As Cho turned over in my bed, she quietly checked under my pillow; her picture of Cedric was still there. She slipped my hands into my robes and felt around for a gold band. Cho pulled it out of her pocket. As she paused to admire it, she felt another tear trickle down her face; on it, it had the description

_To my darling wife, you are my everything. _

Cho slipped the ring onto her left finger and put it under her pillow. As she closed my eyes, Cho put her right hand to her stomach and felt it. A small, barely noticeable bump was protruding from her nightgown. As she pressed against it very softly, she felt more tears trickle down her face. This was the last trace of Cedric she had, and she was determined not to lose him.


End file.
